[1 John Series 5] Our Love and Lifeနမူနာ

Loving and being loved by heaven The goal of Christianity is not that you quit cussing, that you are nicer to people on the street, or that you quit doing this or that. The goal of Christianity is a love relationship with Jesus. You begin to express back to the Creator the love He has for you. When that happens, this beautiful circle starts turning: I am loved by heaven. I love heaven. I am loved by heaven. I love heaven. Paul said that for him to live is Christ, but to die is gain. It is as if he was saying, “I am hard pressed on whether I should stay here with you or go to heaven, because it is far better to be in heaven.” We begin to long for our relationship with Jesus. It is not stuff on earth what drives us anymore. It is hearing, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Imagine hearing that in heaven! This is our core motivation: “I am loved by God. Because of that love relationship, I am going to keep His commands. They are the best for me, so I am going to walk them out.” Why am I faithful to my wife? I am faithful to my wife because I love her, and because I said that I would be. But the day that I am only faithful to my wife because I said so, not because I love her, is the day that our marriage has intimacy problems. With God we have a love relationship. We are faithful to God because we love Him. That is the number one thing. Not just because He told us to be faithful, but because we love Him. Think of this as two sides of a circle. On one side, we have our love. Then, on the other side, we have our life. What is our love for Jesus? How do we love Jesus? What is our heart? At the same time, what is our life like? How are we living? In other words, our intentions lead to real actions. There shouldn’t be a disconnect between these. If you keep God’s commands, then your life will be complete. My love and my life are connected. This is Christianity. I want to be caught up in a circle of loving heaven and being loved by heaven. I love Jesus, and I live it out. And as I live it out, my love for Jesus grows.